Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 0

Pros:

Second ingredient is a named meat product

Cons:

Insufficient meat content, low quality grains

The first grain in this food, and its main ingredient, is corn. Corn is a difficult to digest grain that has limited value and is very commonly linked to allergy problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog foods. Grains of any description are not a natural foodstuff for a canine and foods intended for dogs should be based on meat rather than grains, so it is disappointing to see grain used as the main ingredient.

The second ingredient in this food is named meat product, in meal form. There are further meat meal ingredients 5th-7th on the ingredient list, but this is too far down to make a substantial contribution to the meat content of this food. One of these is a fish meal ingredient, but We find no guarantee on the manufacturers website that protein sources are ethoxyquin-free (ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative commonly added to fish destined for meal, and is believed to be carcinogenic).

We note that chicken fat is the third ingredient in the food. Research at Purdue University has identified fat in the top four ingredients of dry food as a factor increasing the risk of bloat in large breed dogs. Smaller breeds are untested.

Beet pulp is controversial filler which appears to be used in large quantities in this food. It is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required. We would prefer to see the use of whole eggs rather than egg product in the food, but apprediate the range of probiotics.